Word Origin & History

curb late 15c., "strap passing under the jaw of a horse," from O.Fr. courbe "curve, curb," from L. curvus, from curvare "to bend" (see curve). Meaning "enclosed framework" is from 1510s, probably originally with a notion of "curved;" extended to margins of garden beds 1731; to "margin of stone between a sidewalk and road" 1836 (sometimes spelled kerb). The verb (1520s) is from the notion of putting a curb on a horse; fig. sense first attested 1580s.

Example Sentences for curbing

Curbing that will require a whole different level of effort.

Nana responded that free speech was free speech and she had no intention of curbing it.

Curbing methane and soot may be a fast, if incomplete, way to slow global warming.

Curbing the intake of carbs seems more important to me than that of fats.

Curbing the demand for illegal drugs must be the central goal to fighting the drug war.

Curbing high gas prices with recurrent economic slumps is probably not the smartest of remedies.

The only way to fight acid rain is by curbing the release of the pollutants that cause it.

There it spends the night in caves and enters torpor, curbing its metabolic rate enough to avoid starving before dawn.

The cost of curbing greenhouse gases emissions is tiny compared to the economic catastrophe of inaction, some experts argue.

Fortunately, there's an alternative-curbing the other greenhouse gases.